Monsoon Weather
by Diamondflame33
Summary: Annie and Fritz get into a fight on his birthday.


Fritz sighed as he ran a hand through his unruly red hair. Of all the days for the weather to be terrible, it had to be the eighth day of spring. His birthday. There was no way Annie would be able to come with a gift as she'd promised. Not with the monsoon howling outside.

Somehow, in spite of her crazy schedule, Annie managed to set aside about an hour a day, four days a week for him. Sometimes she would just come and talk, others she would bring him bugs or lunch.

Today, she was supposed to spend the whole day with him. Now he'd have to spend his birthday alone.

His first year at Oak Tree town, he'd spent the day with Eda, not long after meeting Annie. He'd let one of her chickens escape on accident and Annie helped him catch it without complaining to Eda. He missed the old lady.

Back then, he'd thought Annie was really fun. His opinion hadn't changed over the year they'd had to get to know each other. If anything, she'd become even more so. She'd gotten so much better at swimming, and whenever they swam together she was always up for playing.

He got a little jealous since last fall when she complimented Raeger on his food or gave Cam one of the elusive flowers he was looking for, but she never meant it as anything more than being a good friend. She made sure to assure him of it whenever he voiced his discomfort.

In that respect, Fritz supposed he had a leg up on his peers. It was one of very few things he'd beaten Raeger at after all, though he insisted that Annie only liked him more because they shared a profession.

A profession, huh? More like a lifestyle. Recently, Annie poured herself into the upkeep of her now enormous farm, sinking more hours of work into it than he swore there were hours in a day. Sunnyside Farm grew everything, and raised everything, that he could think of. She'd even taken over all of the fields offered by the guild. Elise had been left to sputter unattractively at the last harvest festival when Annie's well-cared-for broccoli had won the day, and the rice paddy.

Despite the fact that he'd been farming before her, Fritz felt like an amateur. He'd hadn't won his first festival yet, and none of his crops shipped for nearly as much as hers did. As much as he tried, his pumpkins and potatoes just didn't taste as good.

It seemed recently, though, that all her hard work was taking a toll. Fritz could see the way her shoulders slumped at around three in the afternoon. He noticed that she tended to start snoozing when her fishing line was in the water. They all knew she got up long before dawn and didn't go to bed until well after dark.

She was exhausted. Since the beginning of winter, when Eda had passed away and given Annie her farm, Fritz was certain the old woman had not foreseen how much the girl would work herself into the ground trying to take care of it.

At the very least, even if she wasn't here to celebrate his birthday, she would have a mandatory day off. He would thank the Harvest Goddess for that.

There wasn't a whole lot to do in this small house while he was stuck inside, so Fritz decided to just laze the day away since he'd have to do damage control tomorrow.

A harsh knock on his door jolted him awake just before noon. A glance out the window told him that the monsoon was, indeed, still raging at full force. A seed of dread formed in the pit of his stomach as he dashed over to yank his door open.

And it bloomed into a worry flower when he saw Annie standing on his doorstep. She had pulled her hair back and secured it with the bandana, but the strands near her face had broken free and were plastered to her face. Her green hoodie, though one of his favorite outfits, was offering her no protection whatsoever from the cold or wet, and her freezing hands clutched her bag so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

He grabbed an arm and quickly tugged her inside before allowing his door to slam shut again.

He was trying to get his thoughts together as to how to properly admonish her for being out in this weather when she interrupted them with a gleeful "Happy Birthday Fritz!" and a smile as bright as the sun. She dug around in her pack for a moment before pulling out an orange box with a green ribbon on it. "What weather huh? I had to get up early to tarp my plants. Sorry it took me so long to get here. I ended up with a last-minute change to your birthday present."

He really couldn't be blamed too harshly for his surly response of " _What_ are you _doing_ Annie?" After all, he said it with her well-being in mind.

He realized, as her lips formed a small o in surprise, that it was probably the harshest thing he'd said to her in the past year. "Celebrating your birthday…?" She answered after a short delay. Her eyes darted over to the wall where, had she been in her house, a calendar would have been. "I'm sorry I was late Fritz." She continued in a smaller voice, as if she were confused as to why he was upset.

Clearly, she was. "It's a monsoon outside Annie. It isn't safe for you to be out right now."

Suddenly all her confidence came back. "Oh that's nothing new. Thanks to the weather today, I could make you your favorite meal." She dug in her pack again before pulling out a thermos and placing it on the table. "Mitten Crab Soup! Those crabs only show up on days like today, so I was lucky in that regard. Otherwise I was going to make milk salad and-."

"What do you mean nothing new?" Fritz demanded, cutting her off.

"What do I…? Fritz, I work every day. I can't just let my animals starve for the day, let my plants all be ripped out of the ground, have Eda's grave messed up, or have the coop or barn doors fly open. This isn't the first time I've worked in stormy weather and it won't be the last."

"While I admire your dedication, you have to think about yourself too Annie. Why do you think that it's perfectly fine to be outside in a monsoon? At this rate, you'll catch a cold or worse." He responded angrily.

She was livid when she replied with a short "I don't tell you how to run your farm." The implication that perhaps she _should_ hung heavily in the air between them.

He had brought it up to her many times, how proud he was that she was doing so well, how it must be great having so much more land to work with. How she was so much better at farming than he was. She had never boasted about it though. Hearing her say it now, accusing him of not working hard enough while telling him at the same time that she outclassed him, it was like a slap in the face.

The pink flush dusting her cheeks, both from her fury and the embarrassment of giving in to it, added a healthy color to her skin he hadn't seen in over a month. He couldn't help but be relieved when she turned away from him, giving a quick goodbye before running back out of the door.

He hadn't wanted to fight with her over his birthday. Sighing, he sat on his bed, finally noticing she'd thrown his gift haphazardly there when she was mad. Sadly, hoping he could make it up to her, he tugged on the ribbon.


End file.
